Wheeled rotary straw mulcher



Nov. 6, 1951 l A. scHULTz ET AL 2,573,992

` WHEELED ROTARY STRAW MULCHER Fled July 2, 1945 3 Sheets-Shea?l 1 FiledJuly 2, 1945 -A. SCHULTZ ET AL WHEELED ROTARY STRAW MULCHER 5sheets-sheet 2 In venters NOV. 6, 1951 A, SCHULTZ ET AL 2,573,992

WHEELED ROTARY STRAW MULCHER Filed July 2, 1945 3 SheetSheet 25 laInventors f7 2 f6 we l da?" By mdla/weyeys Patented Nov. 6, h1951UNITE-D* STATES PATENT QFFICE WHEELED ROTARY sTRAW MULCHER Alfred'Schultzand Carl Schultz, Upham, N. Dak. Y -Applica-non; Ju1y-z,1945,serial No. 602,782

.9 Glaims.

This invention relates generally to iin-provements in farm implementsand. more. 'specicall'y to a machine for forming a so-called' trashymulch of 4straw or other vegetation'. upon'. `the ground as it is.plowed.

The` presenti .application is a c'or'itinuation-inpart from our'prior.and (5o-pendingl application, Serial No. 550,596', filed August 22,1.9441, andV now Jnited States Patent No..2',381,0`051,y issued. August1'945.

Modern farming methods require the use of some means to prevent soilerosion .and blow-ing, particularly where the soil :lsy light. er sandy,'in order to prevent as` far asi possible: any' further loss. of theprecious top soil; Farmers are accordingly changing 'fronrthe dust mulchpre'- viously sov widespread. inv use', and which. per'- mitted much:erosion andi blowing of the soil, to a trash or'vegetati'on mulch.wherein'straw and other vegetation. is spread upon the. plowed? soil.vSuch material when properly' spread is found to break up and= diffusethe rain as it. falls, preventing erosion, and in effect to anchor the@soil preventing: it from4 blowing.. Prior t'o. the: provi# sion of yourmachine,. noA eective way had been devised to properly" spreadl .thestrawfor other vegetation but .in accordance with our.4 invention asexemplied.- herein'Y and in. our patent; We: pro'- vide a wheel borneframe with al rotary rake,

which frame may bedrawn along behind the be carriedfout along with; theplowing, seeding and other operations, leaving: the eld in; best as avery important feature a trailingshoeemember adapted and arrangedv totravel in thefurrow formed by the pulling plow insuch vposition thatthat portion` of the'A rake which: deliversv the straw andothervegetation toy the plowing will operate immediately over the shoe.. Inaction, this shoe theirA prevents the mulcher material from fallingvintothe.l furrow andfr insures that the material will. be delivered. outevenly over the plowing Another object of the present invention is toprovide an' improved frame construction and varf-- rangement for animplement of this kind 'and with adjustments for' raising Vand loweringthe frame and 'the rakeand tensioning the latter to thus: adjust theVVimplement to work under all conditions'.

These' `and other more. detailed and spe'ci'c objects will be disclosedin the course of the fol".- lowing specication, reference being had'. tothe accompanying drawings, in which- 1 Fig. ll is a top plan View' of arotary mulcher constructed in accordance with 'the presentinvention.- o

Fig. 2v is a cross-section takeny approximately along theV line '2;2' inFig, vl'. n

Fig. 3' is aside elevational view of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a rear endeleva'tion of the spreader.

Fig. 5 is an enlargedv detail elevational'view showing the adjustable,mounting means for the rotary rakeshaft or axle.y Y

Fig. 6. is a section and side elevation taken valong the line 6 6 ofFig. 5. y.

Fig. I is a top plan view on a smaller scale showing thetrailing-typeshoe attachment which is utilized. to facilitate handlingof the rake on inclines and. hillsides. Y

Fig. Sis a sid'e' 'view of the mulcher of Fig. '7.

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective vie'w 'of the tensioning means for the'rake in a 'partiall7 released position. c l

Referring now more particularly and by refer'- ence characters totherdrawing, our improved straw or vegetation spreaderor mulcher com.-prises a main frame designated generally at. Il), which is triangular inshape as viewed from above and comprises forwardly converging sidemembers'. Il and a transversely extending ,rear meniber l5. A V-shapedforward connecting member I3I is provided and has rearwardly openingsockets Vinto which the forward ends off the side meinber Il' may be.inserted and removably held' by pins oit/bolts asV clearly shown. Ashort distance inwardly from its extremities the rear frame member I5hasforwardly opening sockets i4 simi# .materials and dimensions. Uprighttubular bearings 20 are rigidly secured to and depend from the rearcorners ofthe framev and these bearings are rigidly bracedy by angularbraces 4lli bolted. to

.wardly tapering rake or harrow teethf32.

bearing sleeve 36.

mounted upon the upper portion of the shaft I9 and a hand lever 23 isfulcrumed on the collar as indicated at 2li. in a generally rearwarddirection and at itsforward end, ahead of the shaft I9, the lever isvpivotally connected to a link 25 which in turn is l pivoted at itslower` end to an `adjacent part of the frame. The hand lever 23 has aconventional latch and pawl mechanism 24 which cooperates with anarcuate toothed quadrant or'rack 22 to hold the lever in any verticallyadjusted position and it will be readily understood that by moving thelever in a downward direction, the shaft I9 will be movedY downwardlywith respect to 'the bearing to raise the adjacentcorners of the framewith respect to the wheel I8 and viceversa. The front wheel I'I isjournaled in a fork 2l having a shaft 2'Ia journaled up through abearing sleeve 2lb which is'securedvthroughand de' pends from the'framejfitting I3. A draftfyoke 26 vhas its rear ends pivotallymounted'upon'the shaft 21a above vand below-the lbearingZ'IC', and, aswill be noted, a nut 2Ic on the upper end of the shaft-holds the wheelassembly against downward displacement should the front' end of theframe .be raised. =A draft device is designated lgenerally at 28and-mayV be a part of or attached vtothe conventional plow (not shown)and preferably there vwill bevr embodied in such draft device a flexiblechain 29 which willallowthe straw spreader to trail the plowwithoutdifculty. Any other suitable draft connectionmay, ofcourse,

be usedas found most suitable.

The mulcher itself takes the.form of a large circular rake, which isdesignated generally at 30, and which is positionedbelow andsuppOrted bythe` frame I; being of suchdiameter as to The hand lever 23'extendsnicelyclear the respective supportingwheels II and I8. The rakehas a circularI rim 3l of channel shaped cross-section, as shown in Fig.2, and has removably mounted depending and ,down- The rake further, hasa centrally located hub 33 which is connected tothe rim by spokes 34 andthis hub is supported on the lower end of an upright rake axle 35 whichis both rotatably and vertically slidably mounted through a supportingThe connection between the sleeve 36 and the frame I0 willrpresently bede` scribed, but it will here be noted that the upper end of the axle 35extends some distance above the sleeve and mountedrupon this upperportion of the axle is a collar 31 to which is fulcrumed the forward endportion of a hand lever 38. The hand lever 38 extendsA rearwardly .formanipulation from the rear of the implement and the Vforward end of thelever is pivotally attached to a link .42 which `extends downwardly andis4 ing with this quadrant isa latch actuated pawl v 39 by which thehand lever may be locked in any ing sleeve 44. vmounted, upon4 atransversely extending shaft adjusted position. It will be readilyevident that this arrangement is such that downward movements of thehand lever 38 will correspondingly adjust the working level of the rake39 with respect to the main frame and to the ground. It will further beunderstood that the collar 3T is rotatably engaged with the axle 35 andit may be held in any conventional manner against axial displacement,with respectto the axle.

A bearing sleeve 36,` as besty shown in Fig. 5, is attached by ahoria'ontal`and longitudinally extending pivot connection 43 to atubular mount- The sleeve 44 is oscillatably 45, the ends of which areattached by bearing brackets 46 to the main frame side members II.'This'n iountingA provides for tilting movements ofthe rake 36 inupright planes about both transverse and longitudinal axes, as will bereadily understood, and in addition, the sleeve 44 may be adjusted invtransverse directions to center the rake with respect to .the main frameand may be locked in any-adjusted position against endwise displacementby collars 41 having set screws for engaging the shaft 45; i. It will benoted that the shaft '45 is positioned some distance forwardly of therear frame member I5 so that the circular rake 3B is substantiallycentered with respect tothe fore'and'aftdimensions of the frame. Thisnot only provides for the maximum of compactness with respect-tothediameter of the rake, but more evenly ylocates thethree wheels I8 and I8about; the periphery of therake.

The axis of the rake/30 is tilted' rearwardly and to the left orlandw'ard side, as viewed from the rear, and. yieldably fbiased .in thisdirection by a retractile-coil spring I attached`atl 48a (Fig. 4) to theupper endiof Vthe-'rake bearing sleeve 36 and stretched therefrom towardthe rear corner of the framev I9. It will-.furtherbe noted that theshaft 45 is located-forwardly lof the 'rake axle 35. Thus, the'rake asawhole is so supported that should the tensioning means (later to bedescribed) break orotherwise fail thefrake will of vits ownweighttiltg'rearwardly and its rear edge can then .dragfalongzwithoutdamage. 'I'his would not'be true, of coursejif the shaft 45 were behindthe axle 35 inr which case the rake would drop at its forward edgetending to dig into the ground and cause damage.`

The end of the springY 48 isconnected to a short length of chainf4bwhich at its end has a hook 48'3 by whichv itz' is connected adjacentone end of a tensioning Vbar 149. Adjacent this 'conne'ction anotherchain 5I is connected at 5Ia to the end of the -bar 49 and this chainhas a hook 5Ib which may be engagedl with any one of a series ofapertures 52-is akeeper bar'53'secured across the left rear corner ofthe'frame. The opposite end of the bar 49 carries a hook 5d.' Thearrangement is such thatthe bar 49 will have a toggle-like action tostretch the springY 48 when it is swung to the position of Fig. 1 andthe bar may beheld in such 'position by engaging the hook 50 with thechain' 5Iv as clearly shown. On the other hand, the hook50 may bereadily disengaged frrom the chain 5IIa-'nd the 4bar swung to and beyondthe position of'fFig. 9' and4 the tension on the spring will then bereleased. The actual tension applied may Ibe variedby varying theeffective length of the'chain 43h:

The tension thus applied'to'therak'e will tilt its rear and left orlandward portion downward 'to engage the material" on the field, causingthe rake to rotate and at the same time rake-up the material and 'carry'along overonlto thelplowing. "-The series: off' apertures52y for tlie4ment of vthe tensioning mechanism"to` the frag-nteV enables tlfie-`angle atwhich the-tensionl' is` ap'- pliedyto. the rake tube readilyvaried, so that the rake nia-ybegtilted more or less to the sideaccording to the nature of the vegetation and material on the fieldbeing plowed. v

It will be` observed that the lastfurrow. formed by the plow will passalong beneath'approxmately the center of the rake`3ll' as the implementfollows the plow alnd to keep thestraw from dropping in, large part intothe furrow, instead. orbe;- ing carried. andL snreadput. Over-'the Blew'is c lesired,l we provide a furrow shoe 51|;r which is connected at itsforward end throrugh a dragzbar portion 55 toalower end .ofthev rakeaxle 35 by means of a collar 55E. The arrangement is such that: 'thefurrow shoe maytrail freely andthe connection to the axle is'thatxwhatis knbown as a sloppy fit thus allowing the shcevto. swing and tilt fromside to. side: as necessaryitofistay in the furrow. The drag bar 55angles rearwardly and downwardly as seen in Fig. 3 so that the furrowshoe hangs well below the level of the rake and may run along the bottomof the furrow. The forward end of the shoe, on the side opposite thefurrow wall, is tapered forwardly as seen at 54a in Fig. 1. In action,as the furrow shoe slides forwardly along the furrow the vegetation orstraw will quickly pile up on the shoe to about the level of the top ofthe furrow and thus the material moving across with the rake will becarried readily out over the plowing by the rake, without any tendencyto fall into the furrow. In this connection, it will be noted that theshoe is located immediately below the rear part of the circular rake rim3|, or at the point where the rake teeth 32 move out over the furrow tospread the material out to the plowing and thus the traveling materialon the shoe will plug or level the furrow at the required point to keepthe material from dropping into the furrow and being plowed under on thenext trip around the field. The sloppy t of the drag bar allows the shoeto wobble enough to drop off most of the dirt that falls upon it.

Reference being had now to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be seen that 56designates an auxiliary V- shaped trailer member which is hinged, as at51, to the rear member l5 of the main frame. This member 55 extendsdownwardly and rearwardly and a furrow shoe 58 in the form of arectangular plate having a reduced wedge-shaped end 59 and a shank 60 ispivotally connected at 6i to the rear end of the member. This shoe 58being carried by the trailer member 56 to the rear of the implement willpermit the machine to be properly operated on inclines and hillsides aswill be readily understood.

To clear the rake teeth of accumulated debris, we provide an axle shank52 which is secured to the right hand side member Il, well forwardlythereon, and which has an end upon which is journaled a cleaver wheel63. The wheel is so positioned as to extend down tangentially to theouter edge of the rake rim 3| well below the same so that accumulatedstraw etc. between or on the teeth 32 will strike the wheel and will beforced thereby down off the teeth as will be readily understood.

We claim:

1. A portable rotary rake of the class described comprising ahorizontally disposable .substantially triangular frame structure,ground contacting .and .supporting wheelsA for saidfranie structurearotary-rake. mounted on and carried' by said' frame structure, the'latter structure comprising a pairv of-vdivergfing frame members, a v'-coupling connecting the convergingfendsof said frame members-fand a.rear cross member, said cross member being provided with sockets, therear adjacenten'ds; of said first-,named frame members being Vremovablymounted: in said' socketsc-and said'. wheels `being removably mounted onsaid frame structure, wherebyto permitsaid structure to be dismantled;and knocked down. for cOmpactneSS, convenience, and shipping andstorage. .l y 1 2. .Inarotary straw rake of the class described, awheel-supporting frame, a vrod mounted4 on said'zframe, a tubular membermounted? on4 said rodya'verti'ca'l sleeve hingedlymounted'on theintermediate portion of the tubularfmember, an axle slidablyandadjustably mounted in said sleeve,- a. rotary circular `toothed rakehavingy a hubl connected' to the lower end ofA said axle,` and manuallyregulated adjusting means for the axle comprising a lever connected tothe axle, a pawl on said lever, and a rack on said sleeve.

3. The combination with a traveling mulcher of the character describedand including' a moving member operative to rake vegetation from theground as furrows are plowed therein and deliver the material to theplowing, of a furrow shoe arranged beneath the said moving member to runin the furrow and divert the material onto the plowing and prevent thesame from accumulating in the furrow.

4. In an implement of the character described, a wheel borne frame, arotary rake carried by the frame and operative as ground is plowed aheadof the implement to rake vegetation material from the ground out overthe plowing, and a member carried by the implement to run inthe landwardfurrow at the point at which the material is raked across that furrowout onto the plowing and to guide the material so that it will not fallinto the furrow.

5. In an implement of the character described, a wheel borne frame, arotary rake carried by the frame and operative as ground is plowed aheadof the implement to rake vegetation material 4from the ground out overthe plowing, kand a furrowshoe connected to the implement to travelalong the landward furrow and gather and carry along an accumulation ofmaterial across which the raked material may pass to the plowing withoutfalling into the furrow.

6. In a farm implement which includes a wheel borne frame adapted tofollow a plow over the ground and having a rotary circular rakeextending in part out over the plowing and operative to rake mulchin'gmaterial from the ground and spread it over the plowing, the improvementwhich consists in a shoe member positioned to travel along in the lastmade furrow beneath the point at which the rake carries the material outover the plowing, and said shoe member being operative to gathermaterial on it as it travels and build up such material approximately tothe top of the furrow.

7. In a farm implement for forming a trashy mulch and which includes awheel borne frameL adapted to follow a plow over the ground and y havinga rotary circular rake extending in part travel along inthe .last madefurrow beneath the point at which the rake carries the material outoverA the plowing, and said shoe member being flexiblyconneoted to theimplement' to trail in and follow the furrow.

8. In an implement of the character described, a wheel borne frame, ahorizontal transverse pivot support, a rotary rake having an uprightaxle, a bearing for the axle, and saidbearin'g being pivoted to saidpivot support forwardly thereof and for swinging movements about a foreaxis whereby the rake may be tilted about two substantially horizontaland angularly related axes with respect to the frame.

9. In an implement of the charactergdescribed, a Wheel borne frame, abearing membersupported on the frame for tilting movements in anuprightplane, a rotary circular rake having anraxle jour-,- naled and supportedin said bearing member, and means'for yieldably tilting the' bearingmember tov move a portion of the rake into engagement with the ground,said last mentioned 4means including a spring-and a connection betweenone end ofthe spring and the frame, and means for 4adjusting theconnection between the spring and The following references are of recordin the file of this patent: Y

UNITED 'STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Y 353,234 Ruef Nov. 23, 1886440,178 vMonroe Nov. 11, 1890 1,253,307 Tveten Jan.r 15, 1918 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date v69,803 Germany July 19, 1893 288,308 Italy'Sept. 3, 1931 390,273 Great Britain Apr. 6, 1933

